Chapter 5: I Don't Want His Baby
Aria Lode sat on the edge of her mattress, knees pulled to her chest, as her eyes flickered between the phone screen and the four pregnancy tests still lying across the bathroom counter.
"Aria. We need to talk."
The message still sat unread, but she didn't need to open it. She knew who it was. Only one person in the world made her chest twist like this.
Kade Val.
Her ex.
The man who once looked her in the eye and told her she was a child.
The man who cheated on her, embarrassed her, and walked away like she meant nothing.
Now she was pregnant with his child.
She curled tighter into herself, digging her nails into her thighs to keep from screaming.
She couldn't do this.
She couldn't carry his baby.
Not his.
Not the baby of a man who once kissed her like she was everything—then crushed her like she was disposable.
Not the baby of a man who was nine years older, who had made her feel small, naïve, and stupid.
The thought made her nauseous, and this time, she couldn't blame morning sickness.
She shot to her feet, rushed to the sink, and splashed cold water on her face. It did nothing to calm her spinning head.
Her reflection stared back at her—messy hair, pale skin, bloodshot eyes.
She looked like a girl barely holding it together.
And that's exactly what she was.
Aria was twenty years old.
She worked as a part-time waitress in a noisy downtown diner where the tips were unpredictable and the customers often rude. Most days, she came home smelling like coffee and grease, too tired to think, too broke to dream.
No parents. No siblings. No emergency contact.
Just her.
She had been on her own since seventeen, when the state finally released her from foster care and handed her a bus ticket and a fake smile.
"Good luck out there."
As if luck had ever been on her side.
She worked. She hustled. She kept her head down. She made rent and rarely asked for anything more. The world had taught her one thing early:
No one's coming to save you.
So she saved herself.
But now…
Now, she wasn't sure she could.
She stared down at her stomach, flat and quiet beneath her oversized hoodie. No signs yet. No symptoms except the exhaustion and the sickness.
No heartbeat she could hear. No kick.
Just a choice.
And she was running out of time to make it.
Aria moved to the small table beside her bed and pulled open the drawer. Tucked between unpaid bills and a worn-out notebook was a wrinkled brochure she'd grabbed from the pharmacy days ago.
Pregnancy Options: Know Your Rights.
Her fingers hovered over the word termination.
The idea made her chest clench.
She didn't hate children. In fact, she used to imagine being a mom one day. A good one. The kind she never had.
But this?
This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.
Not by accident.
Not while broke and alone.
Not with his baby.
She opened the pamphlet, scanning phrases like "early medical abortion," "privacy guaranteed," "low-cost services," and "emotional support available."
It all sounded clinical.
So clean. So simple.
But nothing about this felt simple.
Tears pricked her eyes again, and she bit down on her lower lip to stop them.
Could she really go through with it?
Could she really end this pregnancy?
Would that make her selfish? Or strong?
She didn't know.
She didn't know anything anymore except this—
She couldn't bring a child into this world out of guilt.
She didn't want a daily reminder of that night.
Of him.
Aria rose to her feet, pacing across the small studio apartment. The walls felt too tight. The air too thick.
What would she even tell her future child?
"I didn't want you, but I was too afraid to let go?"
Or worse—
"Your father never loved me. He never even wanted to know."
Her chest ached, her thoughts spiraling.
Maybe it would be better if no child ever had to live in the shadow of that night.
Maybe the kindest thing… was to choose a different path.
Her fingers trembled as she picked up her phone and opened the clinic's website listed on the brochure.
She stared at the appointment booking page for a long, breathless moment.
But then—
Her phone buzzed again.
Another message.
Unknown Number: "You saw the message. I just want to talk. Please."
She nearly dropped the phone.
Aria's hands trembled as she clicked the message thread.
Just seeing his name made her pulse spike.
Kade.
What did he want now?
To check if she'd kept quiet?
To blame her?
To pretend it never happened?
Did he know?
There was no way… unless someone had seen her buying the tests. Unless someone told him.
Or… unless he suspected.
Aria sank back onto the bed, gripping the phone tightly.
Her thumb hovered over the keyboard.
She wanted to scream at him.
You did this. You made me feel worthless. And now I have to decide whether to bring a baby into a world that never wanted me—just because of one mistake we both can't erase.
But she didn't type that.
She didn't type anything.
Instead, she stared at his message, her heart pounding.
And just when she thought she might finally respond—
Her screen lit up with an incoming call.
Kade Val is calling.